City of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders today launched a new 1.135 megawatt solar power installation at San Diego’s Alvarado Water Treatment Plant. The panels produce about 20 percent of the plant’s power, with annual electricity savings estimated at $40,000.
The Alvarado photovoltaic installation was built under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison, North America’s largest solar services company. Under the agreement, San Diego citizens benefit from clean, solar energy with no upfront cost, thereby avoiding an estimated $6.5 million in capital installation. SunEdison built, owns and will maintain the solar system. SunEdison will sell the solar energy to the City’s Water Department at costs lower than SDG&E rates.
The 1-megawatt water treatment plant site is the first of a multi-year solar deployment at City facilities that will eventually produce 5 megawatts of solar power and will become the largest municipal system in California, surpassing Google’s planned 1.6 megawatt solar system in Mountain View, California.
“Installing 5 megawatts of solar panels on City-operated property is a major step toward meeting the City’s target of providing 50 megawatts of renewable fueled power generation by 2013,†said Mayor Sanders.